Mind Sports South Africa's (MSSA) blog on competitive gaming in South Africa from proto-computer gaming all the way through to the most modern. For more about MSSA go to: https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa/

Thursday, 27 March 2014

And that's just one reason why gamers need the MSSA....

There seems to be a great deal of
controversy around the (console) Call of Duty team named “RiZe”
that will be playing in the MLG Championships in the USA this
weekend.

It seems as though the team manipulated the rules of
the MLG to ensure they would qualify by including two players from
the UK. Apparently one of the two South African players then had an
issue participating in the USA, and his place was taken by yet
another gamer from the UK.

Of course there is outrage from the
community who (justifiably – in my opinion, but maybe for other
reasons) feel that this whole 'selection' of this team is just ever
so wrong.

Certainly the team in no way can call itself South
African.

South Africa long ago (1961) cast off
its shackles of being a colony in which people of other nations could
represent South Africa.

Hmm, let me think about that a
minute!

Actually no-one who was not a citizen of South Africa
was ever allowed to represent South Africa at the Olympics – and
that goes back to the 1920's.

So why now?

Simply put, the MLG seems to be a
privately owned company from the USA. Such types of companies are
primarily only interested in its own profit margin.

As such, any benefit for gamers is
merely an unexpected outcome it is not necessarily the intention.

This too is the worst type of
representation that anyone could think of . Not only does the team
not even reflect the demographics of the country in any way, but it
also makes no attempt at even being South African.

It is in
short a mockery!

This is why the MSSA is so important for the
long term growth of gaming.

The rules, as agreed to by the
membership, ensure that there is proper procedure and that there is a
fair chance for all members.

A team like 'RiZe' would never be
allowed by the MSSA to represent South Africa.